Susan Abram

Staff Writer

Recent articles

HIV and AIDS

An updated national strategy to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the next five years was released Thursday by the Obama administration, with some local organizations praising its focus on minorities and the Southern states, but others saying the goals don’t go far enough. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy, signed by President Barack Obama, includes 37 recommended...

Hunting

The news broke early Tuesday. Cecil, a 13-year-old black-maned lion of Zimbabwe had been killed by a Minnesota dentist with a bow and arrow. The story made international news. Trophy hunter Walter Hunter paid $55,000 to kill a lion in the wild. Cecil lived on a preserve and according to accounts, was lured away and killed.Viewing on mobile? Read “Killing of beloved lion stirs global...

Health

The President’s signature came with a promise.“No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine,” President Lyndon B. Johnson said in a July 30, 1965, ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo. “No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later...

West Nile virus

A young male from the South Bay is Los Angeles County’s first person to contract West Nile virus this season, health officials announced Monday.The young male had no prior history of medical issues but was hospitalized this month because of the virus, Los Angeles County public health officials said. He is now recovering at home.“West Nile can appear anywhere in Los Angeles County, and we are urging people to...

Affordable Care Act

Those who purchase their health insurance plans through Covered California will see an average premium increase of 4 percent in 2016, a slight dip compared with the rate increase consumers saw this year, state exchange officials announced Monday.Los Angeles County customers will see an even smaller increase averaging 1.8 percent, with some areas actually seeing decreases, officials said.The rate was hailed by health advocates and others...

Health care industry

In a deal that would create the nation’s largest health insurer by enrollment, Anthem announced Friday that it made a $48 billion bid for rival Cigna, which would cover about 53 million patients in the U.S.During an early morning presentation, Joseph Swedish, president and chief executive officer of Anthem, said each company offers services that would expand the...

State budgets

The doctors told Elizabeth Criss that a child with her daughter’s disorder would only live until she was 8.She would suffer from seizures, the doctors said. She would likely be unable to communicate and would have problems with her vision. Almost all of that was true, except Emily Criss is now 29.“We never expected she would age out of the school system,” Elizabeth Criss said. “It feels good when the doctors are wrong.” Now Criss...

Poverty

California’s children are more likely to have health care coverage, avoid teen pregnancy and live until adulthood, but many remain in poverty or with parents who lack secure jobs, according to a report released today. That mixed assessment of the well-being of California’s youth means the Golden State ranks poorly when it comes to making programs more accessible to help children live better, said authors of a report for the Annie E. Casey...

Immigration policy

Nearly 400,000 California driver’s licenses were issued to undocumented immigrants in the first half of this year as part of a massive effort to allow them to drive legally in the Golden State, officials announced Friday.During the first six months that the Safe Driver and Responsibility Act — or

Computer crime

As many as 4.5 million patient files may have been breached in a cyberattack on the UCLA Health system, but there is no evidence yet that any personal or medical information has been accessed, officials said Friday.The attack may have occurred as early as last September. In October, UCLA Health administrators said they detected some suspicious activity and began an investigation with the FBI.Though at the time it...